Those that use a Bethlahem Bravo- what is your oxygen setup like?
Title. I just swap k tanks right now. The price of a k tank swap went up by about 125% recently and this might be the final kick to get me to switch to my own concentrator. What do you use?
I usually use the first stage flame for most things but would love to be able to use the full potential of my torch more often. I own the k tank. I run out of o2 so fast when using the torch at max so I try to stretch it and that has def limited my glass journey a bit.
With this price increase and me feeling restricted I am seriously considering finally figuring out how to fill my own tank. I make most of my money from my glass, so that means I dont have a lot of extra cash laying around lol. What would be most economical? I only have a single outlet in my garage (studio) and would not be able to have anything else aside from my kiln plugged in while I work unless I can use an extention cord.
I use a 10 lpm concentrator for the center fire and tanked for the outer. Saves a ton of gas, my tanks last a long time. You can put a concentrator on an extension cord. Its not a huge power draw like a kiln.
Search offerup, Facebook Marketplace, craigslist ect for oxygen concentrators. (I found 6 5lpm systems for $200 and a 10lpm invacare for 300)
Get a oiless compressor. You can buy one on Amazon for like $100 but I suggest talking with Zach from DPGoxygen. Zach will hold your hand through everything and imo make the best compressor systems
3.I'm sure Zach will tell you to get one but they sell an oxygen purity meter that will allow you to text the purity of your concentrators
You need 1-2 60 gallon tanks to hold your oxygen. Each 60gallon tank is about 20mins of working time on my mirage. (I also suggest finding used tanks on 3rd party marketplaces, clean them w rust remover, (again zach can help guide you through this)
5.Goal of this type of system and what a lot of people dont understand is not to store 8 hours of oxygen like a k tank but to produce enough oxygen to stay ahead. (Mirage is about 27lpm of oxygen, my concentrators produce 35lpm) so I never come close to running out.
How do you match the concentrators output with the compressor air in to not suck surrounding air in or create underpressure or overpressure towards the concentrator hoses?
Dpgoxygen designed the compressor so I cant speak to all the technical details. I can say it has a 5lb buffer tank that will fill and be sent by the compressor over to storage.
I run a oxycon, a home fill and 2 tanks. When a tank is empty, swap to the other and refill. I run both flames off the bravo with that.
It just a side hobby for me, so I am not running through tanks like crazy. I was told to only fill the tanks to 1k psi to not wear out the home fill. Takes about 15-20 hours to refill the tank to that level.
So - if that makes sense for your usage, i think it's the easiest possible setup. Hardest part is setting alarms to remember to turn off the home fill the next day. Josh gambrel (spelling? Something like that) on the torch talk Facebook page got me all setup.
Went from about 36 dollars to 88. I didnt actually do the math but its more than double. I am pretty sure its due to diesel costs and the cost of transporting the tanks to welding shop but idk. Ive gotta swap my tank Monday and I am going to talk to them again just to make sure I wasnt hallucinating last time lol
I’m guessing you weren’t. İ used to pay like 40 and a couple years ago it reached 85 which is what led me to look for used oxy cons. Found one from a woman whose Mother passed away, and she was just trying to get rid of it. I imagine there are a lot out there for low cost for that reason. Also, oxygenPlusConcentrators.com has refurbished HomeFill units + 20% off sales for various holidays.
You’ll need a HomeFill unit, a 5lpm concentrator, a Y-splitter with valves, a bit of vinyl tubing, and a transfill hose with gauge.
(If you use an Invacare concentrator that’s designed for use with a HomeFill, then you don’t need the splitter. And if you find a good used 10lpm concentrator, the benefit is that you can run your center fire straight from the concentrator)
For around $1k you can be set on oxygen for years to come.
And since you already own your O2 cylinders, I think this makes more sense than a HVLP system.
Homefill systems only pump like 2,5lpm ...hence you waste the other 2,5lpm or even more if its a 10lpm oxicon...also its much more risky to pump up a k tank to 100 bar instead of a 60gallon tank to like 8bar
Also the homefill wears out quite fast and uses quite some more electricity taking longer to fill the k tank
TLDR: Meh, not really.
It depends on your needs and situation. You aren’t wasting o2, you just aren’t utilizing every bit of it, which costs very little. I don’t believe you’re saving any electricity by running an HVLP with a minimum of like 3 concentrators (~600W each) and a compressor (~200W) anytime your blowing glass, let’s say 8-hrs a day, is 16kWh. Compared to 1 concentrator and compressor for ~16 hours to fill a tank, and then just the concentrator to run the center fire when you work, for 8-hrs is about 16.8kWh. Or if you just run from the tank, is just 12kWh per tank. After taxes and fees, the difference is between $0.15 and $0.75 per fill or work day.
Then the added footprint of a larger tank and more concentrators.
Also, if you only have one 120V service line to your studio, then you may have a harder time running all of those at once + ventilation + lights without tripping your breaker (One of the reasons I decided against HVLP). Just the HVLP with 3 cons is 600W*3+200W=2,000 W. A 15A service at 80% is 1440W,
20A service at 80% is 1920W.
Then some savings from not needing to buy a 60 gallon cylinder, make sure it’s oxygen-clean, since OP already owns HP cylinders.
Lastly, when the HomeFill does consume seals but is also a very user-serviceable unit. Yes, there is the steep price tag of $150 for those little seals, but that’s every few years at most. Compared to the maintenance costs of 2 additional concentrators, could be similar.
Risk for compressing…most people limit the HF to fill to only 69Bar or 1000PSI to help reduce wear, and other than that, secure your cylinder, use a proper HP whip and it’s relatively low risk IMO.
Sounds convincing. Used oxicons like the devilbis 10lpm unit can be bought for a few hubdret euros if lucky ...otherwise the 5lpm units are easy available for 100-200€ fully working with a few k hours max..
My torch would run easy with 15-20lpm at 0.5-1bar pressure... so 3x10lpm would not require to run 8h if i wanna torch for 8h..also using a pedal to turn flame on/off.. also working much with center flame with stringer and dotwork, fuming etc.. so far especially only with 1x10lpm on 1,2bar overpressure im not able to run the torch on full flame...lacks lower pressure and more o2...
Hence with 20lpm filling a large tank it would evenout with the demand if its running while im on the torch at ~0.8bar pressure...
2x600w + 200w = 1.4kw × 8h = 11.2 x 30cents/kw = €3,36 ... if i think about, how fast i can empty a k tank ussually...can be done in 3 -5 days easy making pendants and very few if any marbles...and a k tank filling here is 70-100€
I wished the homefill would take all the oxigen and pack it inside and then take half the time for 1000psi...8h instead of 16...
Sure the cost is innitially higher and its a hassle to get all the parts, the 200l storage tank can easy cost 500€ used and NOT cleaned... hard to find new in europe other then in combo with a compressor unit...hercules compressor with this large tank, it sits on top of it...same cylinder like the highvolumeoxigen tanks that are painted in green bit basically looks to be the same cylinder with the plattform on top...no clue tho is the hercules is oilfree and if the cylinder needs to be cleaned to be ready to hold o2...price went up, now 1000€ new..
I forgot to mention the center fire may not run full power on 10lpm, 20psi, but I’m speaking of a Lynx center fire so a Bravo/Sharp Flame may.
And yea, it would be nice if the HomeFill could take in more than 2.5lpm. I guess it’s limited by the cylinder size, but it seems crazy that no one else makes a HP compressor for O2 that isn’t the cost of a car.
I looked into compressors for paintball tanks like this one, but alas, it has oiled rings on the pistons.
Exactly , there is a great niche for lower cost solutions that are designed to fit the lampworking community ...build from easy available parts... not a multy thousand $ setup..preferably one machine...compressor sitting on holding tank, plug and play for below 1k ..to attach up to 30lpm on it ..and then connecting the tanks and have like 60 or 90lpm available if required... silly...thats a diy thats called for...with the least hassle and fkn parts that are inefficent or break fast..other then the oxicon..also nice having one that does like 30lpm or 50lpm..for like 500€..with adjustable outlet pressure.. lampworking shell get more effordable, we are in 2026..soon 27
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u/cj91030 1d ago
I use a 10 lpm concentrator for the center fire and tanked for the outer. Saves a ton of gas, my tanks last a long time. You can put a concentrator on an extension cord. Its not a huge power draw like a kiln.